HONG KONG , China -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It 's small , affluent , tech-savvy and it has a very obvious pollution problem -- Hong Kong is arguably an ideal destination for electric cars .

MyCar , the electric vehicle developed in Hong Kong , would be perfect for the city , but faces big obstacles .

And despite the absence of a car-making industry , the city can now boast a home-made electric car all of its own . MyCar , a two-seater micro car , will roll of the production line for the very first time in October and will be available for purchase .

But you wo n't find it on sale in Hong Kong .

Hong Kong still has n't got its act together when it comes to electric vehicles -LRB- EVs -RRB- , according to the chief executive of MyCar 's manufacturer , EuAuto Technology , Chung Sin-ling .

She says the city lacks the necessary framework and policies that would make it viable for her company to sell MyCar here . So they are heading to Europe instead .

`` In London they have government incentives to get people to switch from gasoline to electric vehicles , '' explains Chung , citing the waiver of the congestion charge and free parking for EVs in London as an example .

`` But that has to be driven by the government . In Hong Kong they are still debating whether to use diesel or whatever . ''

Hong Kong is not without EVs though . Private organizations like local utility Hong Kong Electric has its own small fleet of them .

But according to Chung , the restrictions they have to operate under mean introducing them now into the mass market is n't practical .

'' -LSB- Hong Kong Electric -RSB- only use them inside their private site and they have to get a very special licence and they ca n't drive outside their site and they are restricted to certain uses , '' she says .

`` We do n't want those kinds of restrictions . ''

Make it hip , make it affordable

Europe to date has taken the lead when it comes to encouraging motorists to drive cleaner cars .

Most notably , London has cracked down on car-related pollution with the introduction of a congestion charge and , more recently , with additional fees for heavier polluting cars to pay on top .

Under the rules of the Low Emission Zone , for example , fees as high as $ 400 can be imposed on trucks and vans trying to enter Greater London that are more than six years old .

`` There should be very high incentives for people -LSB- to drive EVs -RSB- , '' says chairman of local pollution lobby group , Clear the Air , Christian Masset .

But Masset says the political will is still not there to promote EVs in the city . He believes it is down to the market to stir up interest .

`` This will only happen with market pressure - it is hard to see it otherwise , '' says Masset .

`` If the EV became hip , then it would have an effect . ''

But in order for this kind of customer pressure to happen , customers need to want the cars in the first place . That 's about education , says Professor Eric Cheng , director of the Power Electronics Research Center at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University , whose team was involved in the MyCar project .

And education needs to come from the government , he says .

`` The government is not helping the car user , '' says Cheng .

`` It has n't put any special mechanism in place , any special law or regulation for motorists to drive EVs . I do n't think the government has done anything to persuade motorists to use EVs . ''

Hong Kongers are not familiar with EVs he says , and are concerned about the technology so they need to be shown that EVs are just as good as petrol cars .

One obvious way to demonstrate that would be to change the public transportation system from diesel-fueled to electric-powered , he says .

`` Taxis , minibuses , buses can be forced to go electric but the government is n't doing anything , '' says Cheng .

The government has in the past offered one-off grants to minibus drivers ranging from $ 7,000 to $ 10,000 to encourage them to convert from diesel to either LPG or electric .

However Cheng says stronger measures are needed .

`` Voluntary schemes do not work . The government needs to put a mandatory scheme -LSB- in place -RSB- , to start off with public transport so people can get used to it and see that it is good . ''

And then there is the question of money . Cheng says the amount of money his department received to design MyCar was nowhere near enough and to him , it told him how important the government view EVs .

`` The money involved was very small . It was about $ 130,000 for MyCar . It 's nonsense . You need tens of millions of dollars . How can we build a new generation of EVs for Hong Kong ? We need to train the new engineers , the graduates , technicians , '' he says .

`` Car-makers want subsidies from the government , as the initial costs are very high . The government needs to give them financial support and I am not talking about one or two million Hong Kong dollars . We also need more investment in R&D . ''

In the meantime Chung is making plans to sell MyCar in London , her first stop the London Motor Show in July to stir up some more interest . One day she hopes to come back to Hong Kong .

She says EuAuto Technology is ready now . The market is n't though . And that , she says , is something that is in the government 's hands .

`` We want to come here -- as long as the policy is there to make it happen , '' says Chung . `` It would be sad and kind of ironic if we can sell them all over the world and not in our own home town .

`` We have the customer , the market demand , and the product - we just need the government to support it . ''

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New electric vehicle , MyCar , developed in Hong Kong , but wo n't be sold there

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Lack of government and market interest means MyCar will be sold in Europe

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Large capacity for electric power , especially in public transport